Fabulous Fabric Field Trip

Gaffney Fabrics, 5401 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia. (215) 849-8180.



There were so many things I'd have liked to buy, but I narrowed it down to the pile in the final photo. How about that embroidered and sequined stuff for $5.99 a few pictures up? Or the giant yellow flowers in the "Designer Fabrics" display for $2.99? That brown print would have made some cool pillows! See anything you like?

Coming Soon...

Find out where we went and what's in the bag! Tune in tomorrow for the next field trip!

Pink

Pink is a cute word. It sounds like it looks. Pink pink pink. Gerry said, "Pink will be easy for you--Hello Kitty." While I do have a soft spot for The Mouthless One, she never really struck me as pink. Her bow is sometimes pink. She has kind of a pink aura. But that's not what I had in mind. How about some thrift shop finds instead? The ball of thread above? 25 cents. And the picture below, which set me back $2.50 about ten years ago. One of my favorite thrift shop finds ever.


Of course, there's my favorite pink. The nose, the toes (I always say she's grey and white with pink trim), and her favorite blanket.




Kate from Occasional Martha asked about joining in. Please do! Anyone else feeling the rainbow?

Thanks, too, for the yellow shoe and cereal box comments. Would you believe those shoes were $4.99 at Target? They make me happy.

The SiFotMwPtFitB Method

Drat. I finished taking in that jacket I bought a few weeks ago, and now I realize I should have taken a "before" picture. Hey, at least I have "during" pictures.

The jacket was just too billowy. Besides being too big in the chest, it had this vent at the back which was not flattering at all. My plan was just to take out the seam along the back, get rid of the vent, and then sew it all back up again, taking in some of the fullness.

First, I opened up the back seam almost all the way to the top.

Then, by using the extremely precise method of fitting known as the SiFotMwPtFitB Method (standing in front of the mirror while pinching the fabric in the back), I drew a guideline for a new seam.


What this terrible picture does not show is that I also picked out the hem, so I could then sew it up again, all nice and neat. You didn't actually think I'd just sew right over the hem, did you? I admit, I did cheat on the lining a bit. I didn't relish the thought of sewing on that slippery stuff, so I just took a pleat in it and tacked it down.

And without further ado, here are the results!



















I think my $1 beads really set the whole thing off. How about you?

Yellow

I'm going with the "I Can Sing a Rainbow" pattern of colors: Red and yellow and pink and green, purple and orange and blue. Which means yellow is next. Great, I thought, I don't have anything yellow. I'd love to keep a big bowl of fresh lemons on our dining room table, but have you seen the price of lemons lately? So I went on a yellow safari and, what do you know?! I have yellow things!

Red

Michelle, at Green Kitchen, started blogging a rainbow. I'm kind of late to the party, but as there are no rules, I guess that's okay!

Like Michelle and the others playing, I'm going to start with red. This is almost too easy for me, because, whenever I have a choice, I choose red.

Polo Player

All right, if I keep waiting for sunny days and good photos, I'm never going to get anything posted! How do some bloggers have perfect photos all the time?

Before: A men's medium polo, embroidered with advertising for Estrella Mountain Ranch.
After: A basic shell in a women's size medium.

I bought this polo at the thrift shop because I was intrigued by the fabric, but I had no idea what I was going to do with it. I'm generally not a fan of resizing polos, because you can't really resize the placket and collar, and, to my eye, they end up looking out of scale. Also, because this was such a lovely, silky fabric, I wanted to make something more refined. (Not to sound like I created a masterpiece or anything--I just mean the style is simpler.)

I had a root around in the pattern drawer and came up with Simplicity 4503, which is apparently out of print. No problem, I'll take a pic...be right back.


I bought this pattern for view F, the bag! I guess you just never know. Now that I'm giving it a second look, I might want to try that skirt too.

Anyway, the first thing I did was get the pocket out of the way. Pick, pick, pick with the seam ripper.


I know these manufacturers have to make sturdy garments and all, but geez oh whiz, that pocket was hard to get off! Dudes, ease up a little!


There are only two pattern pieces (front and back) and they fit nicely on the shirt, thank goodness! I don't usually try to do this with anything smaller than an extra large, so I was a little concerned!

The sewing was very straightforward, which was a blessing, because I have little experience sewing on knits. This wasn't a very stretchy knit, which also helped. To finish it off, I used one of the buttons from the original shirt, and made a loop from a little scrap of fabric that I just tugged on to make it curl up in a tube.

Don't forget to make yourself a thread shank for something like this! They suggest you use a pin or a toothpick...I went a little nuts and used a handy knitting needle.

Now, you might remember that I am not a sleeveless shirt fan, but in the interests of full disclosure, I am posting a picture of myself bravely showing my arms and wishing they looked more like Michelle Obama's.


In reality, this is how I'll wear it:

Mmmm

Okay, I'm just a few days late with the soda bread picture.

One loaf to take to work and one loaf for us.

Want to know the secret to perfect soda bread every time?













Why, we cheat, of course!

Gerry does make lovely soda bread from scratch, but this is nice in a pinch--no buttermilk required.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

The Dolly Bag

Finally! The experiment is complete! Remember the bag cloning I was working on? I'm calling it the Dolly Bag in honor of the first cloned sheep. Here is the finished bag, made from the fabric my friend supplied. Took me long enough!

The bag is reversible, should she find herself in a pink paisley mood.


In order to make it reversible, I needed some sort of closure that wasn't specific to one side or the other. It was hard to tell how the original bag closed, but it involved a loop, so I took that and ran with it.

Making it reversible also required some hand stitching, which I tried to do as neatly as possible.

I promise I'll eventually make up a tutorial for sewing this bag! I actually started one with this bag, but the light was bad, I was in a rush to get this done, etc. Setting in that bottom is going to be tricky no matter what, but I'll give you all the info I can to make it easier.

Road Trip!

I realized something the other day: This blog doesn't get out much. So I bring you the first Darling Petunia field trip!